The thought of termites gnawing away at the very foundation of your home can be enough to send your world into a tailspin. These destructive insects have become infamous for their wood-munching ways that can lead to considerable damage to the structure of your house and other wooden materials. And if not dealt with soon enough, a termite infestation can spiral out of control, costing you a small fortune in repairs and renovations.

Thankfully, Mission Pest Solutions provides the most effective pest control in Jacksonville to get rid of different kinds of termites in your home, sparing your structures and saving your investment. Read further to learn more about these “silent destroyers” and why partnering with pest experts can put your mind at ease.

What Does A Termite Infestation Look Like?

If you suspect you may have a termite infestation but are not 100% sure, some telltale signs of termites in your home can alert you to their presence. These critters can be so difficult to detect that they can live in homes for months or even years before their cover is blown. Your house may be infested with termites if you spot tunnels made out of mud, also known as mud tubes. Termites construct these pathways from their nests to their wooden food source.

And because they steadily chomp away at wood 24 hours a day, your wooden structures may sound hollow when tapped on. The affected wood could feel soft to the touch, crumble easily, or show visible maze-like patterns running through it. If you come across what appears to be a pile of sawdust, it could be frass, which is termite excrement they produce as a result of consuming wood.

When it comes to termites, it’s important to confirm your suspicions to prevent their damaging effects. Get in contact with your local termite pest control company if these clues seem familiar.

With Time, Termites Will Cause Extensive Damage To Your Home

Despite their tiny size, termites can cause extensive damage to any wooden structure in your home. Their constant consumption of wood and other cellulose-based materials can lead to expensive restorations and repairs. The trouble with termite damage is that it can often go unnoticed for years while these insects work silently and invisibly behind the scenes. This is why it’s critical to be proactive about preventing termite infestations and to have regular inspections conducted by experts.

By taking steps to protect your Jacksonville home from termites, you can avoid the costly and time-consuming repairs that come with termite damage – entrust Mission Pest Solutions for your pest management and prevention needs.

What Attracts Termites To Your Home

If you’re like many homeowners who prefer not to deal with the nightmare known as a termite infestation, it’s essential to understand what attracts these insects to your home in the first place.

Here are the ideal conditions that termites gravitate towards:

To reduce your chances of becoming infested, eliminate sources of excess moisture around your home, elevate any wood materials off the ground, and make sure your home is well-ventilated. Consult with Jacksonville termite control specialists to eradicate a termite problem quickly.

The Stress-Free Way To Total Termite Protection For Your Home

Dealing with a termite infestation can be a stressful and overwhelming experience, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the best methods for getting rid of these pests. Fortunately, Mission Pest Solutions is armed and ready with the knowledge, background, and effective termite treatments to eliminate these insects for good in the greater Jacksonville area. We use the right combination of eco-friendly products to ensure your family’s health and safety. Reach out to us today for help with termites and to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Jacksonville.

Termites thrive in warm climates, and with summer in the Jacksonville, Florida area fast approaching, these pests will soon be more of a threat than at any other time of year. It’s important that you know about termites, such as how they function, what attracts them to your house, and what you can do to make your home less of a target, so that you know how to respond. The best pest control in Jacksonville, however, is professional pest control. Mission Pest Solutions is here to service your home and take care of all your pest control needs.

About The Termite Caste System

First, let’s discuss the way termites in Jacksonville interact with each other. Termites have what is known as a caste system, which means that different kinds of termites have different roles in a colony. These roles can usually be determined by a termite’s appearance. There are three castes of termites; swarmers, soldiers, and workers. Typically, the swarmers are the only termites with wings, often the largest of the three castes. Their job is to reproduce and ensure the colony’s survival. One of the most common signs of termites is seeing termite swarmers around your house or in your yard. Soldiers are usually somewhere between the swarmers and the workers in size and typically have large heads with prominent mandibles. These termites must defend the colony from invaders and keep the workers safe. Workers are generally the most numerous caste in a termite colony and often the smallest. Their job is to consume and digest wood for the rest of the colony, both to provide nourishment and to expand the colony.

How A Termite Infestation Starts

There are several ways that a termite infestation can start. Termites are primarily attracted to new places by abundant sources of food or areas that provide proper shelter. For some species of termites, the most desirable home has plenty of moisture. These termites may gravitate to places like basements or crawl spaces, where moisture tends to build up. For other termite species, the best place to live is hot and dry. These termites are, therefore, more likely to take up residence in attics or other areas lacking in moisture. Some signs of termites inside your house include bubbling or peeling paint, wood that has darkened or sounds hollow when tapped on, and mud tubes on the outside of your home.

How To Identify And Remove Factors That Attract Termites

Now that you have an idea of what can attract termites to your house, let’s talk about how you can mitigate these factors and keep termites away more effectively. While termite removal is beyond the scope of what a homeowner can reasonably do, you can take several simple steps to make your Jacksonville home less of a target.

These include:

These steps aren’t perfect, however. You may still find yourself dealing with a termite infestation. If you do, however, don’t panic. There is still something you can do.

Expert Termite Control Is A Great Idea For Jacksonville Properties

Professional termite control in Jacksonville is the best answer to any infestation, and termites are no exception. They are dangerous and often go unnoticed for months or years, and when you discover them, the damage can be catastrophic. Our team at Mission Pest Solutions possesses the training and the tools needed to get rid of termites in your home for good. We are a family, veteran-owned company, and we pride ourselves on accuracy and efficiency. If you need termite protection, call Mission Pest Solutions today for more information about our residential and commercial pest control services in Jacksonville.

Ants are a common type of pest often encountered at cookouts, picnics, and other outdoor activities where food exists. Ants have a three-segment body, six legs, and antennae. Based on their small size, ants are among the strongest insects in existence.

Ants are social creatures that often form large colonies with members belonging to categories or castes based on their roles as workers, queens, and more. What does a queen ant look like generally? Although young queen ants might have wings, they usually shed them once they begin mating. In most species, the queen ant appears noticeably larger compared to other colony members. Some ant species have colonies containing multiple queens.

Beginning as an egg, ants develop through larval and pupae stages before finally reaching adulthood. The eggs are often not visible to the naked eye.

Have ants invaded your home? An experienced Jacksonville pest control professional understands what gets rid of ants and what keeps ants away from your property.

The Types Of Ants That Invade Jacksonville Homes

A variety of ant species in Jacksonville exist in yard areas in residential neighborhoods but primarily remain in their natural outdoor setting; however, several types will navigate their way indoors, such as the following:

Regardless of the species, ants communicate using pheromone chemicals that are detectable by others in their colony; therefore, small ant intrusions may quickly become overwhelming infestations.

Why Ants Can Be So Problematic For Homeowners

One of the reasons why ant prevention proves challenging is that these creatures will slip through tiny openings and reach indoor areas.

Common points of entry include cracks in exterior walls, gaps around entry doors, crevices that develop near the bases of a structure, or torn window screens.

What attracts ants indoors? Certain members of ant colonies spend the majority of their time out searching for sources of food.

While the majority of ant species are merely nuisance pests, they are known carriers of salmonellosis, E.coli infection, and several other health-related concerns.

Why DIY Ant Control Usually Isn’t Enough

Local home improvement stores and online retailers promote a host of do-it-yourself home treatment options for controlling ants. Some of these options include liquid-filled baiting stations, granular formulas, repellants, and others that are often exaggeratedly touted as “easy-to-use and total solutions” for expelling ants. In many instances, these products prove ineffective against larger ant infestations.

The Most Efficient Way To Get Rid Of An Ant Infestation

How do you get rid of ants? Consider contacting a local pest control company regarding a property inspection. As a leading provider of indoor and outdoor ant control services, Mission Pest Solutions delivers positive outcomes for customers struggling with these undesirable insects in the Jacksonville area. Contact our team today for assistance.

You probably don’t want to share space with any spiders, regardless of the type you’re dealing with. They spread swiftly and can take over your house or garden.

Some spider species are drawn to damp sections of your Jacksonville area home, while others are drawn to dry parts of your house once they invade. Spiders can be found near an air vent or in a moist basement. Spiders can hide in cluttered spaces too.

You need Jacksonville pest control experts to help you with getting rid of spiders on your Jacksonville property. Trained professionals can determine the most effective techniques to get rid of spiders.

Common Types Of Spiders Found In Jacksonville

There are many kinds of spiders in Jacksonville, most of which are not dangerous. The black widow and brown recluse spider are the two most venomous spiders in your Jacksonville home. Here are the common spider species in Jacksonville:

All spiders in Jacksonville can bite, so it’s crucial to establish the spider species before trying to handle one. Whether you want to get rid of spiders in the basement or the attic, your best bet is to have the professionals handle the infestation.

A Spider Infestation Often Indicates A Bigger Problem

If you are the victim of a spider invasion, this could indicate that spiders and other pests are gaining access to your home. The presence of a large number of spiders in your home is likely indicative of the presence of other pests. Most likely, they are entering your property through an entry point; therefore, keep an eye out for any small openings into your home. Spiders feed on flies, aphids, mites, moths, gnats, and other problematic insects.

Dealing with other pest invasions is a good starting point to get rid of spiders in your Jacksonville home.

Five Naturally Effective Spider Prevention Tips

If you have spiders in your house, it helps to be informed of the most effective strategies for spider prevention. In addition, it’s a good idea to seek general home pest control services, as spiders invade your home while hunting down insects already in your house. Try these five tips for keeping spiders at bay:

  1. Seal openings: Spiders may fit into small gaps and crevices. Seal these openings to prevent their entry.
  2. Use cedar mulch: Cedar repels spiders, and using it around your home will prevent spiders from approaching your property and entering through cracks.
  3. Turn off porch lights: At night, turn off the porch lights to deter spiders. Light draws spiders, and turning them off will repel spiders and moths.
  4. Keep your home clean:  Messy dwellings attract spiders and other pests. Regularly cleaning your home will keep the critters away.
  5. Use eucalyptus sprigs: Strong fragrances deter spiders and other pests. Use eucalyptus sprigs around your home to ward off pests.

There are numerous measures you may take to avert a spider invasion. If you use these measures, you will likely notice a dramatic decrease in the number of spiders in your home.

The Best Way To Get Rid Of Spiders And Their Pest Prey

A spider invasion can easily overwhelm you, and their invasion is often a sign of other pest invasions. The best way to get rid of spiders is to involve professionals. This is why the Mission Pest Solutions team is here to help you regain control of your Jacksonville property.

Our solutions are tailored to your home’s requirements, and you can rely on us to keep your Jacksonville home free of pests.

If you’ve seen signs of cockroaches in your home, such as droppings, eggs, chewed food in your pantry, or live roaches, it’s time to get some help from Mission Pest Solutions. Don’t try to tackle these intruders by yourself; the infestation could be much larger than you suspect. Get professional pest control in Jacksonville.

Species Of Roaches That Commonly Invade Homes

Five types of roaches commonly infest Jacksonville homes:

  1. German cockroaches
  2. American cockroaches
  3. Oriental cockroaches
  4. Brown-banded cockroaches
  5. Pennsylvania wood cockroaches

German cockroaches are the most prevalent roaches in most homes. They grow about half an inch long, but they reproduce fast. Colonies usually start around your plumbing fixtures and grow in hiding until overpopulation forces them out into the open. That’s when you start seeing signs of the roaches in your home.

The other four types aren’t as common as the German roaches. American cockroaches tend to inhabit restaurants and commercial kitchens. Oriental cockroaches are short-lived, brown-banded roaches jump if you startle them, and wood roaches typically live outside in forested areas.

Why Cockroaches In Your Home Is A Hazard To Your Health

Cockroaches pose many dangers in the greater Jacksonville area, not just to your home but also to your health. Many dangers lurk inside cockroach droppings in your home, including:

There’s also the risk of a German cockroach allergy. Their droppings can cause allergic reactions, especially in people who have asthma. Children are more susceptible than adults and may have severe asthma attacks landing them in the emergency room or hospitalized.

How To Remove Factors That Attract Roaches Into Our Homes

If you’ve found one cockroach in your apartment, you probably have a whole colony. However, there are steps you can take to make your home less attractive to roaches:

Once you’ve accomplished all that, you can start to look at what repels cockroaches. In one experiment done in a 2012 science fair, documented by the University of Southern California, the student found that savory, an herb with a taste between mint and thyme, repelled cockroaches better than peppermint, clove, or guava.

Some spices and herbs have chemicals that, if concentrated enough, will repel roaches. These include cinnamon, peppermint, lavender, garlic, thyme, spearmint, and rosemary. However, it’s challenging to get the extracts concentrated enough for this to be an effective measure to repel roaches in your home.

The Fast And Safe Way To Get Rid Of Cockroaches

If you’re wondering what kills cockroaches, the answer is simple: insecticides. Baits are one way to kill roaches. You can use commercial bait traps. Put them on the floor or counter, in direct contact with the wall, since that’s where roaches generally walk. The insecticide bait kills the cockroach that eats it, then indirectly kills other roaches that consume the dead roach’s sputum or feces.

If you use baits, you’ll need a lot of them to cover your house. Anywhere you see a roach is a good place for bait, but don’t forget less visible areas. Behind your oven and fridge, beneath your toaster, near your computer and printer, and around any other electronic devices are good places to put the bait.

Some people say that home remedies for cockroaches are effective. They’re wrong. There aren’t any homemade roach sprays that are strong enough to eliminate an infestation.

Your best bet to get rid of roaches is to call Mission Pest Solutions. We are a veteran-owned company with years of experience eliminating your roach problems. Our technicians can be at your home within 24 hours for a free inspection and can advise you on the best course of action to take. Let us get rid of those roaches once and for all.

The impact of spiders on your home and family can range from nuisance pests to dangerous pests. The severity of the dangers posed by a spider infestation can vary depending on the degree of the infestation and the species. The risks a spider problem presents can include factors that you may not be readily aware of, like allergies or outsized reactions that you or your family may have to spiders and spider bites.

Any way you look at it, spiders are unwelcome pests. In order to identify and remediate a spider problem, there are a few things you should know. In this blog, we’ll discuss the characteristics of the common spider and why a spider infestation is often a sign of a larger issue and provide six spider prevention tips for your home.

If you observe spiders in your home, don’t hesitate to call Mission Pest Solutions for the best pest control in Jacksonville.

Characteristics Of The Common Spider

There’s no better way to determine if you have a spider infestation in your Jacksonville home than by observing the actual pest. In order to do that effectively, you have to know what you’re looking for. Here are the primary characteristics of the common spider:

Spiders can range in size from just a fraction of an inch to four inches. In rare cases, they can even exceed four inches! Spiders also come in a variety of colors, from pale to black. Some have ultra-fine hair, while others have downright coats. Once you determine that you have spiders in your home, let the professionals at Mission Pest Solutions help you get rid of them!

A Spider Infestation Often Indicates A Bigger Problem

First, seeing a single spider in your home is often a sign of a larger problem. If spiders have made a home of your house, then spider colonies may be lurking in more remote, less trafficked areas within your house. You most likely already have a group of spiders on your hands.

Aside from a larger spider problem, an infestation of spiders often indicates that you could have other more troublesome pests in your midst. Like more destructive and dangerous pests, such as rodents, spiders do not require much of an opening to gain access to your home. If spiders are coming in, you may have a larger problem on your hands.

Six No-Sweat Spider Prevention Tips For Around The House

Want to know how to prevent spiders from getting into your home in the first place? The good news is that there are simple steps that you, the homeowner, can take to make your house less hospitable and accessible to these unwanted pests.

Here are six awesome spider prevention tips for your home:

  1. Seal crevices and cracks in your home’s exterior.
  2. Replace broken window screens.
  3. Clean your gutters.
  4. Repair foundation cracks.
  5. De-web and declutter the house.
  6. Use natural repellents like eucalyptus oil.

It’s important to understand what steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of a future spider infestation. If you’re already dealing with a spider problem, these tips are an integral initial step that we will help you implement. Enacting a plan that encompasses these steps will ensure that our professional spider extermination is as effective as possible.

Professional Pest Control Makes For The Best Spider Control

Nobody wants a spider infestation in their home. Spiders can extend beyond being just a disgusting nuisance. Many species of spiders are venomous. While spiders do not tend to attack humans for no reason, when they feel threatened, they will bite us. You want no spiders in the house around your family. There’s no need to take the chance that the spiders in your home are not venomous or will not bite you or your family. If you have spiders in your home, call Mission Pest Solutions today. Our company is veteran-owned-and-operated. Our team has over 30 years of top-notch pest control experience and is well-versed in the most efficient ways to kill spiders. We specialize in removing all types of spiders from your Jacksonville home!

One of the worst feelings is waking up in the middle of the night and discovering a cockroach scurrying across your kitchen countertop. In this discovery, it’s a safe bet to assume that if you found one cockroach in your apartment or home, there’s more in hiding.

The unfortunate news about cockroaches is that they’re tough to rid from your home. Female cockroaches produce a single egg casing every month, on average. These egg casings contain around 16 eggs. So just imagine a cockroach egg sack in your home, filled with 16 eggs, hatching once a month in your home. It’s the recipe for a cockroach infestation.

At first sight or sign of cockroaches in your Jacksonville home, your first course of action should be to call the best pest control in Jacksonville, Mission Pest Solutions.

Clear Signs Of A Cockroach Infestation In Your Home

According to the 2019 American Housing Survey, people reported around 2.9 million sightings of cockroaches and rodents. In many cases, people have cockroaches and don’t even know it. However, there are some definite, clear indicators that cockroaches are infesting your home. Look out for these signs.

If you notice any of these signs, attempting to get rid of cockroaches on your own will be useless. Not only do you not know how to remove them effectively, but cockroaches will continue to appear even with your removal efforts. Only professional cockroach control services will work.

Cockroaches Can Be Very Harmful To Your Health

If you have a cockroach infestation in your Jacksonville home, finding cockroach pest control is of great importance, and discovering it with a sense of urgency is of even greater importance.

The presence of cockroaches will put you at risk of health complications. These pests reside in some of the most unsanitary and unhygienic places, such as sewers, dumpsters, and drainage pipes. Because cockroaches live in these spaces, they spread various diseases and pathogens once they enter your home.

A quick scurry across your kitchen countertop from a cockroach puts you at risk of food contamination and respiratory issues and leaves a path of urine, feces, and regurgitated saliva. Exposure to these contaminants can cause illnesses such as urinary tract infections, sepsis, salmonellosis, and more.

Factors That Attract Cockroaches To Your Home

Cockroaches love to live indoors, which also means they love the basic necessities we love as well. Food, water, and shelter are major attractors to your home. Once cockroaches determine your home has things they want, they will find any way to get inside.

Tiny cracks in windows or openings in your home’s exterior, holes in your pipes and vents, and bringing used furniture into your home are all ways cockroaches can enter your home.

The Trick To Completely Get Rid Of Roaches In Your Home

What is the best way to get rid of cockroaches? Professional pest control services. At Mission Pest Solutions, we’ve been in business for over 30 years serving Jacksonville with quality pest control services. We believe your home is your safe haven, and pests like cockroaches simply don’t belong.

Don’t delay taking action if you’re experiencing a cockroach problem in your Jacksonville home. With our cockroach control services, we have the tools, products, and treatments to get rid of infestations of any size and prevention methods to keep them from coming back. To get rid of cockroaches and keep them away, don’t delay calling Mission Pest Solutions to schedule your inspection today.

Your house is the one place on earth you want to feel like you can roam about freely. You should not be afraid to go into the basement, up into the attic, or inside a dark room at night. You should feel secure in your house without fear of being attacked or frightened by outside sources. Yet, there is a creature in many homes that strikes fear in the heart of many homeowners; spiders!

These arachnids build webs in corners of rooms, doorways, and dark places. Walking into a spider’s web or sticking your hand into one while reaching for a jar on a basement shelf strikes fear into your heart. We violently shake webs off our hands, fearing that an angry spider will bite us!

If you are living in fear of spiders in your house, you need the Jacksonville pest control experts from Mission Pest Solution. With over 30 years of experience in the pest control industry, our technicians know how to eradicate spiders from houses. There is no need to live in fear of spiders with veteran-owned Mission Pest Solution fighting for you.

How Can I Tell What Kind Of Spiders Are In My House?

There are many spiders in Florida, and describing each spider would put you to sleep, but these are basic ways you can tell the kind of spider in your Jacksonville home:

These factors will help determine the type of spiders infesting your Jacksonville home.

Is It Dangerous To Have Spiders In My Home?

Although some spiders will bite if threatened, most Florida spiders are harmless to humans and are primarily a nuisance in homes due to their webs and the fear they illicit by their appearance. The presence of spiders indicates a danger not from the spiders but from their prey. Spiders target cockroaches, mosquitoes, fleas, flies, and moths, and many of these insects can spread disease and contaminate food. If spiders are in your Jacksonville home, there is a high probability that you have an insect problem.

Two dangerous spiders in Florida invade Jacksonville homes that can be a problem: recluse and widow spiders. Both spiders produce venom harmful to humans. A bite from these spiders can cause symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, shortness of breath, restlessness, vomiting, pain, and skin ulcers. In rare cases, usually in children under seven, death may occur from a bite from one of these spiders.

Why Do I Have A Lot Of Spiders In My House?

Spiders enter Jacksonville homes hunting insects. To get rid of spiders in the house, remove attractions for insects. Keep a clean house, remove debris from the yard, and seal entry points into the home.

What’s The Best Way To Get Rid Of Spiders In My Home?

The best way to get rid of spiders is by using our Mission Pest Solution team. Our experts will identify the spiders infesting your home and create a plan to eliminate them. Contact us today and request your free quote.

Ant control in Jacksonville is not to be overlooked, as regular maintenance helps keep your risk of infestation to a minimum and can stop the many problems ants bring with them. Following ant prevention tips and working closely with Mission Pest Solutions professionals is essential for residents who want to learn how to get rid of ants.

The Importance Of Regular Ant Control Treatments

Many individuals don’t notice an ant infestation due to their small size, and many Jacksonville residents consider them a nuisance. However, ant infestations can be quite dangerous in terms of health risks and property destruction, which warrants the need for regular, effective ant control.

When ants get into your home, they bring bacteria and pathogens from other areas they have been; this increases your risk of illness as this pest scavenges and contaminates surfaces or food. Furthermore, certain ant species can invade the wooden areas of your home and tunnel away, presenting a risk of structural damage or collapse. All ants present bite risks and may trigger allergic reactions if you are not careful.

Proper, professional ant control treatments and regular maintenance is the best way to prevent all of the negatives that ants can bring.

Should I Kill Ants I See Around My Home?

While you can kill ants you see around your home, you may want to be careful with this. It is very likely that the ants you are killing are workers and can lead professionals back to the main ant colony, which is where you need to treat if you want to remove an ant infestation. Additionally, sometimes ants release a warning pheromone to other ants when killed, which may bring more ants into your home as they investigate the source of trouble.

Is It Safe To Spray Store-Bought Ant Spray In My Home?

Ant control solutions such as store-bought ant spray can be very hit or miss, and they generally don’t target the source of your ant problems, leaving your home prone to reinfestations and continued ant issues. And, of course, some store-bought sprays are not safe to use in your home around children, plants, or pets. How safe a product depends on the kind you buy, but it also depends on your application methods. Trusting a professional to put down ant control products is a much safer form of ant control in your house.

Solving Nuisance Ant Problems In Jacksonville

To help decrease your chances of nuisance ant problems, you can implement prevention tips such as:

And remember, whether it is ant control in your yard or the interior of your home, Mission Pest Solutions can help you out. Our expert technicians are ready to identify your ant problem and provide you with safe, effective solutions that eliminate active ant infestations and deter reinfestations of this nuisance pest.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Mission Pest Solutions at the first sign of ant problems on your property.